How tall are pitchers?

[Lobster Birch]

I saw some chatter here last week about most pitchers in college ball being 5'11" to 6' tall, so I took a look at the rosters of the teams ranked 1-9 in DI and of Oregon, which was ranked #11 (#10 Kentucky did not list player heights).

Here's what I saw:

* Of the 49 players listed as pitchers the average height is 5'9"
* 12 or 24.5% were 6 foot or taller (3 of them play for OK)
* 6 or 12.2% were 5' 5" or shorter with the shortest being 5' 3"

The average height of a woman in the US is 5'4"

So, pitchers tend to be tall, but perhaps not as tall as we imagine sometimes.

 

[radness]

Hey nice post!
Like bringing the #'s compairison.

Plus those #'s from the top 9 college programs
Add's interesting question to the rest of talent and levels.


? Can you please do bottom 9 schools D1?
Guess i could but your good at it!

Thanks for posting this!

 

[Top_Notch]

Are the heights listed similar to basketball, where it's minimum +2 inches plus the last digit of your jersey number?

 

[Lobster Birch]

Are the heights listed similar to basketball, where it's minimum +2 inches plus the last digit of your jersey number?

Not in my experience, but that experience is limited to one school.

 

[RIZZARIJOE]

I saw some chatter here last week about most pitchers in college ball being 5'11" to 6' tall, so I took a look at the rosters of the teams ranked 1-9 in DI and of Oregon, which was ranked #11 (#10 Kentucky did not list player heights).

Here's what I saw:

* Of the 49 players listed as pitchers the average height is 5'9"
* 12 or 24.5% were 6 foot or taller (3 of them play for OK)
* 6 or 12.2% were 5' 5" or shorter with the shortest being 5' 3"

The average height of a woman in the US is 5'4"

So, pitchers tend to be tall, but perhaps not as tall as we imagine sometimes.

I really don't get the obsession with a pitcher's height. There are so many factors and components that go into pitching. A pitcher's height is probably the least correlative factor. It really has nothing to do with the ability to pitch. There were some girls that are really high waisted that have extremely long legs. That makes them ideal candidates to throw a great drop. In all my years of pitching as well as teaching pitching, the most prevalent factor is angular momentum – how much speed, force, and torque you can impart on the ball. Some girls have great whip that they generate through the leg drive and/or hip torque. I think what a lot of people get confused about is the length of the arm. It goes without saying that taller girls usually have longer arms that would allow them to generate more angular momentum. So there is a correlation between height and speed. However, that correlation does not just translate into causation. A taller girl will proportionally have longer arms.

The best pitchers in the world have a combination of physical attributes that are going for them – strength (in the legs, hips, core, bicep, and forearm. There is absolutely no substitute for great mechanics!

 

[sluggers]

I really don't get the obsession with a pitcher's height. There are so many factors and components that go into pitching. A pitcher's height is probably the least correlative factor. It really has nothing to do with the ability to pitch.

Ueno, 5'9"; Osterman, 6'3"; Abbott 6'3', Rachel Garcie, 5'6"; Rickets, 6'2". Plain, 6'; Fouts, 6'1"; Faraimo, 6'. Trilicek (FL), 5'4".

Sure looks like the college coaches think height has something to do with it. (Florida seems to be the outlier).

 

[MadBandit22]

I really don't get the obsession with a pitcher's height. There are so many factors and components that go into pitching. A pitcher's height is probably the least correlative factor. It really has nothing to do with the ability to pitch. There were some girls that are really high waisted that have extremely long legs. That makes them ideal candidates to throw a great drop. In all my years of pitching as well as teaching pitching, the most prevalent factor is angular momentum – how much speed, force, and torque you can impart on the ball. Some girls have great whip that they generate through the leg drive and/or hip torque. I think what a lot of people get confused about is the length of the arm. It goes without saying that taller girls usually have longer arms that would allow them to generate more angular momentum. So there is a correlation between height and speed. However, that correlation does not just translate into causation. A taller girl will proportionally have longer arms.

The best pitchers in the world have a combination of physical attributes that are going for them – strength (in the legs, hips, core, bicep, and forearm. There is absolutely no substitute for great mechanics!

I really don't get the obsession with a pitcher's height. There are so many factors and components that go into pitching. A pitcher's height is probably the least correlative factor. It really has nothing to do with the ability to pitch. There were some girls that are really high waisted that have extremely long legs. That makes them ideal candidates to throw a great drop. In all my years of pitching as well as teaching pitching, the most prevalent factor is angular momentum – how much speed, force, and torque you can impart on the ball. Some girls have great whip that they generate through the leg drive and/or hip torque. I think what a lot of people get confused about is the length of the arm. It goes without saying that taller girls usually have longer arms that would allow them to generate more angular momentum. So there is a correlation between height and speed. However, that correlation does not just translate into causation. A taller girl will proportionally have longer arms.

The best pitchers in the world have a combination of physical attributes that are going for them – strength (in the legs, hips, core, bicep, and forearm. There is absolutely no substitute for great mechanics!

I really don't get the obsession with a pitcher's height. There are so many factors and components that go into pitching. A pitcher's height is probably the least correlative factor. It really has nothing to do with the ability to pitch. There were some girls that are really high waisted that have extremely long legs. That makes them ideal candidates to throw a great drop. In all my years of pitching as well as teaching pitching, the most prevalent factor is angular momentum – how much speed, force, and torque you can impart on the ball. Some girls have great whip that they generate through the leg drive and/or hip torque. I think what a lot of people get confused about is the length of the arm. It goes without saying that taller girls usually have longer arms that would allow them to generate more angular momentum. So there is a correlation between height and speed. However, that correlation does not just translate into causation. A taller girl will proportionally have longer arms.

The best pitchers in the world have a combination of physical attributes that are going for them – strength (in the legs, hips, core, bicep, and forearm. There is absolutely no substitute for great mechanics!

As the greatest NCAA Women’s basketball coach once said you can’t teach height.
Height is not a must have for pitchers but it helps. Being a good athlete that is dedicated to her craft is the most important criteria in my opinion.
Having said that if you look at the GOAT’s in female fastpitch that owned the circle in the past 20 years or so most are taller than average.
So as a coach the characteristics you look for in a pitcher are tall, athletic, dedicated, confident, strong willed young ladies. Not necessarily in that order.

 

[RIZZARIJOE]

Ueno, 5'9"; Osterman, 6'3"; Abbott 6'3', Rachel Garcie, 5'6"; Rickets, 6'2". Plain, 6'; Fouts, 6'1"; Faraimo, 6'. Trilicek (FL), 5'4".

Sure looks like the college coaches think height has something to do with it. (Florida seems to be the outlier).

Those are the outliers. You have pitchers like Amanda Scarborough, who is 5' 5". Also, what people do not realize about a really tall picture like Kat Osterman was that her average speed was only 62 to 64 mph. Granted she has tremendous movement on the ball. All things being equal, you would want the taller pitcher if her mechanics were just as good as the shorter pitcher. Having said that, usually taller pictures are proportional – they do have longer limbs than their diminutive counterparts. But there are so many things that go into making a good pitcher. I would take a shorter girl with tremendous twitch muscles over a statuesque girl that could not generate enough angular momentum.

 

[uncdrew]

I guess it’s safe to say the best pitchers in the world are outliers.

 

[wheresmycar]

There are so many factors and components that go into pitching. A pitcher's height is probably the least correlative factor. It really has nothing to do with the ability to pitch. T

It is simple physics... given the same RPM, the velocity increases, as the radius of the circle increases. In other words, with the same arm speed, the longer arm throws the ball faster.